Everyone knows that eating a salty meal can lead to temporary water weight gain. For most people, this is not a problem. But for those who are watching their weight, the experience can be discouraging and frustrating.
In this post, I will discuss what happens when you eat a high salt meal, what foods have the highest levels of salt in them, how to avoid or reduce your body’s water retention after consuming too much sodium, and what alternatives exist for reducing excess sodium from your diet without sacrificing flavour.
The kidneys are responsible for regulating the water content in the body. When we eat a meal high in salt, or sodium (the chemical name of which is sodium chloride), it leads to an increase in blood volume and therefore urine production as well.
This also means that there will be less fluid stored around our cells because they will have more room with all this extra liquid circulating through them.
All this fluid causes temporary weight gain on the scale before reabsorption has taken place, but your weight won’t change much once normal hydration levels return after some time passes. You would need to consume between eight and ten grams of salt per day over an extended period of time (~five days) before you experience any serious health issues.
